Visiting Minister Álvaro Mesa Latorre has issued an indictment against eight retired military officers for their responsibility in the crime of qualified homicide, classified as a crime against humanity, of José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández, who was performing his mandatory military service at the Cazadores Regiment in Valdivia.

The illicit act was perpetrated on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano between September and November 1973.

The extraordinary visiting minister for human rights violation cases in the jurisdictions of Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Montt, and Coyhaique, Álvaro Mesa Latorre, issued the indictment against eight retired military officers for their responsibility in the crime of qualified homicide, classified as a crime against humanity, of José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández, who was performing his mandatory military service at the Cazadores Regiment in Valdivia.

The illicit act was perpetrated on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano between September and November 1973.

In the resolution (case file 13-2013), Minister Mesa Latorre charged Hernán Agustín Rodriguez Leyton, Víctor Hugo Hermosilla Reinoso, Luis Edmundo Riveros Soto, Ernesto Alejandro Flores Colimán, Rigoberto Becerra Fica, Waldo Eugenio Salinas Núñez, René Miguel Sáez Gómez, and H.W.C.R. as authors of the crime.

“Based on these same records and the statements of Hernán Agustín Rodríguez Leyton from page 1,060 to 1,062 (Volume IV); Víctor Hugo Hermosilla Reinoso, from page 1,177 to 1,178, from 1,180 to 1,183 (Volume IV), 2,068 (Volume VII), 2,612 (Volume IX); Luis Edmundo Riveros Soto, from page 1,186 to 1,187, from 1,235 to 1,237, from 1,301 to 1,302 (Volume IV); Ernesto Alejandro Flores Colimán from page 859 to 860 (Volume III) and from 1,811 onwards (Volume VI); and H.W.C.R., whose statements are recorded on page 1 and page 12 of a separate secret file, as ordered on page 990 (Volume IV); Rigoberto Becerra Fica, on page 1,303 (Volume IV), from 1,742 to 1,746 (Volume VI); 2,068 (Volume VII); Waldo Eugenio Salinas Nuñez, from page 958 to 959, from 982 to 983, from 985 to 989 (Volume IV); René Miguel Sáez Gómez, on page 2,223 (Volume VII), 2,592, 2,612 (Volume IX); there are well-founded presumptions to consider that they acted as AUTHORS, by virtue of Article 15 No. 1 of the Penal Code, in the crime of qualified homicide, in its character as a crime against humanity, referred to in the previous consideration,” the resolution states.

During the investigation stage of the case, the visiting minister managed to gather sufficient evidence to establish the following facts:

“A.- That José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández, 18 years old, was performing his mandatory military service in 1973 at the Cazadores Regiment in Valdivia, assigned to the mortar squadron of that military unit.

On September 11, 1973, José Gastón was at his parents' house, as his leave had been authorized days prior. However, as the days passed and due to the situation prevailing in the country, José Gastón did not report to his military unit in a timely manner, so his father decided to accompany him to excuse this situation, which occurred days after September 11, 1973 [according to pages 102, 141, 139, 141 (Volume I), 721 (Volume III), among other records].

Upon arriving at the guard post of the Cazadores Regiment, José decided not to enter, telling his father that he was going to run some errands, and he did not return to the military unit. [according to pages 33, 142 (Volume I), 1,175 (Volume IV), among other records].

B.- That as a result of not reporting or not entering the Cazadores Regiment of Valdivia—which at that time was under the command of Colonel Santiago Sinclair Oyaneder—José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández was considered a ‘deserter,’ a situation that was commented on among the conscript soldiers and officers [according to pages 275 (Volume I), 412, 468, 509, 587 (Volume II), 854, 863, 903, 915 (Volume III), and 1,056 (Volume IV), among other records].

As a result, a patrol led by Lieutenant Luis Rodríguez Rigo-Richi [deceased, according to page 208 (Volume I)], and composed of approximately 8 or 9 conscript soldiers [according to pages 418, 468, 587 (Volume II), and 854 (Volume III), among other records], went in search of José Gastón, detaining him in the commune of Villarrica and transferring him to the Regiment.

He was seen as a detainee by several of his fellow soldiers who were also performing military service, who observed him being guarded by other soldiers, entering with his hands tied behind his back and thrown onto the floor of a military vehicle inside the facility. [according to pages 251 (Volume I), 418, 510 (Volume II), 735 (Volume III), among other records].

C.- That within the military unit, there was a patrol under the command of Rodríguez Rigo-Richi, known as his trusted group, which was specifically designated to carry out patrol, detention, and raid orders issued by the regiment commander, Colonel Santiago Sinclair Oyaneder [according to pages 1,024, 1,181, and 1,187 (Volume IV), among other records].

In the afternoon of the following days, the same patrol led by Lieutenant Rodríguez Rigo-Richi was in charge of transporting José Gastón to the commune of Villarrica, with the purpose of searching for weapons in the area, as Buchhorsts himself had allegedly indicated, traveling through various sectors on the slopes of the Villarrica volcano without finding what they were looking for.

Faced with this situation, Lieutenant Rodríguez ordered the young José Gastón to dig, and at certain moments required him to get inside the hole, as the purpose was to make his own grave. Once finished, he ordered the conscript soldiers to fire at Buchhorsts, which all the soldiers present did, executing him and burying him in that same place [according to pages 1,060 to 1,062 (Volume IV); from 1,177 to 1,178, from 1,180 to 1,183 (Volume IV); from 1,186 to 1,187 (Volume IV), among other records].

D.- That some time later, several conscript soldiers from the same Cazadores Regiment of Valdivia learned about the death of José Buchhorsts Fernández in the vicinity of the commune of Villarrica [according to pages 251, 275 (Volume I), 418, 491 (Volume II), 724, 735 (Volume III), 1,001 (Volume IV), among other records], with some of them recalling that they even gathered the entire Mortar squadron and informed them of his death [according to page 587 (Volume II), among other records].

E.- That despite the above, and even though his father went on repeated occasions to inquire about his son's situation, the Cazadores Regiment of Valdivia did not provide him with information, giving him evasive, erroneous, or ambiguous answers.

They even told him that he might be in another military facility in the same commune of Valdivia, and he went to that place, but did not find his son among the detainees [page 34, (Volume I)]. As time passed and having no news of José Gastón, several other family members traveled repeatedly to Valdivia, meeting with a military prosecutor named Manterola [deceased, according to page 1,234 (Volume IV)], who told them that José had been taken to an area on the road to the Villarrica volcano, but that when he tried to escape, the ‘Ley de Fuga’ (Escape Law) had been applied, he had been executed on the spot, and his body had been buried in that same place, without informing them of the location or allowing them to search for his body [according to pages 34, 140, 141 (Volume I), among other records].

F.- That to this date, no public official of the Armed Forces, especially the leadership of the Chilean Army that served at the time of the events, has provided any information to the respective authority regarding what happened to José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández and the location of his body, maintaining to this day the concealment of all types of information regarding the events mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.

Likewise, according to the case records, there was no instruction for investigations regarding the events surrounding the detention and execution of José Gastón Buchhorsts Fernández, even though, according to the death registration certificate, Lieutenant Luis Rodríguez Rigo-Richi himself and other officials from the same Cazadores Regiment of Valdivia were present to verify it.”

Source: pdju.cl, August 14, 2023